Advocacy

Projects in Africa

Note: This is a small selection of our projects. Not all projects shown.

Freeing women in Addis Ababa from the sex trade

On the streets of Ethiopia’s capital, the city’s commercial sex trade is flourishing. It is estimated that around 150,000 girls and women work on the streets – or one in ten females over the age of 15. Most have been forced there by poverty – though what they earn will never release them from its grasp.

In this context, TEAR’s partner Ellita – Women at Risk (E-WAR) seeks to enable women involved in prostitution to exit the work through rehabilitation and livelihoods training, and to improve community awareness through education so that fewer women are likely to enter the commercial sex trade…

In Somalia: A Good News Story

Somalia has a certain ring to it. If you tell someone you are going to Somalia, the response is predictable. “Oh. Wow. Really? Isn’t it dangerous?” they ask. Then there’s a bit of silence.

What do you know about Somalia? Black Hawk Down? Pirates? Something about US interventions and Mohammad Farah Aidid? War, famine, conflict, kidnapping.

I want to tell you a good story.

It begins with Marian, the Country Director for Medair, and I leaving Nairobi at 4.30am. The taxi driver gets us to the airport in good time, and at 6.45am we board a Blue Sky flight to Mogadishu. They serve us nice little…

Zimbabwean mother volunteers to support the hearing-impaired community

It’s a tough job raising a child with a disability. For Petronella Muchidza, finding a way to communicate with her son, who was born deaf, has also proved to be an opportunity to improve the lives of other families with hearing-impaired members.

Through TEAR’s partner Nzeve, Petronella learned sign language and unlocked a way to connect with her son. Now, she assists as a volunteer sign language teacher in schools, and with community awareness raising activities for Nzeve. She’s also a volunteer Cluster Facilitator, helping support groups of carers for people with a disability, and a mentor…

Sustainable Farming in Zambia

Diness is part of the Mandondo farmers’ group in Ndola district, Zambia. TEAR’s partner, Reformed Church of Zambia Diaconia Department, works with farmers like Diness to improve their productivity and income through sustainable farming.

As part of the project, Diness was given a female goat, which provides manure to use as organic fertiliser on her crops. Now her maize crop is flourishing and she is saving money by not having to purchase fertiliser. A number of female goats have been provided to an initial group of farmers, and as the goats give birth the kids are passed on to other farmers…

Making Tippy Taps for Better Health in Mozambique

A 'tippy tap' outside the family toilet is dramatically reducing the incidence of diarrhoea in areas where clean water is scarce. This simple set-up enables families to wash their hands - an effective way of decreasing the spread of disease.

TEAR's Christian partner Oasis Mozambique has been teaching women involved in their Self-Help Groups how to make their own 'tippy taps' from cut-down jerry cans. They have also been sharing important hygiene messages which the women can pass on to their own communities and keep themselves and their children in good health.

Growing and Selling Good Food in Mozambique

TEAR’s partner World Relief Mozambique facilitates a farmers’ association that encourages people to grow and sell good food, like these delicious tomatoes (pictured).

Most of the association’s members are women from vulnerable or low-income backgrounds. They receive training to farm their own plot of land, and are supported with loans for seeds, irrigation and access to transport. They can make a living from their crop, and their family also gets to put healthy fresh food on the table.

Improving the health and wellbeing of women in Mozambique

TEAR’s partner Oasis in Mozambique is working alongside the local church to improve the health and wellbeing of women in the Manga Loforte area of the port city Beira.

“Care groups” of local women are learning about important health and hygiene messages. They’re becoming health activists in their communities, sharing what they’ve learnt with others and sparking change.

Marquina Rondao (not pictured), a mother of six children, is one of these women. Before she joined the care group, she had many health problems and so did others in the community. Marquina says: “I joined Oasis to create…

Unlocking the key to opportunity in Ethiopia

An innovative project in Ethiopia is helping children overcome barriers to enter primary school and reach their full potential.

Do you remember when you first learnt how to read? It was like discovering a key that unlocked a whole new world. Suddenly signs could be decoded, books were exciting and letters came to life.

For children in poor and marginalised communities, education is the key that opens up opportunities to help break the cycle of poverty. It leads to an increased ability to earn a living, better health and nutrition, stronger communities and less discrimination. Girls who are…

Equipping Teachers in South Sudan

We know that great teachers engage children with learning and encourage them to stay in school and reach their full potential. That’s why TEAR’s partner Across in South Sudan is working with teachers to equip them with skills that will help them be the best teachers that they can be.

Gabriel (pictured) is an enthusiastic Year 7 teacher at Adol Primary School in Rumbek East County, with a class of 35 students. The pay is not much (around A$30 per month), but Gabriel is passionate about education, especially science, in his community.

Hope in the Refugee Camps, Ethiopia

Hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees have settled in enormous camps in Ethiopia. With little hope of further resettlement, these families now raise their children and create community in what was intended to be a temporary place of shelter. As TEAR’s partner ZOA helps them start businesses and generate income, is there any hope for progress in a “holding” place?

From the air, the Dollo Ado region of Ethiopia is a seemingly endless vista of red earth and dry, scattered scrub, intersected by the wide, brown Genale River as it slowly meanders its way across the parched planes into Somalia.…

Improving health and nutrition for Somalia’s displaced people

In Somalia, decades of civil war have caused the almost total collapse of public infrastructure and social services, leading to one of the largest and most complex humanitarian crises in the world. According to recent UN statistics, Somalia’s maternal mortality, child malnutrition and under-five mortality rates are among the worst in the world. One in seven children under the age of five, or 203,000 children, are estimated to be acutely or severely malnourished, and one in every ten Somali children die before their first birthday (UNOCHA, Jan 2014).

Water: The Gift of Life

Basic water and sanitation facilities can help transform communities, improving health and reducing disease. In the area of Nkayi in Zimbabwe, TEAR partner HEFO (Health, Education and Food Organisation) is working to improve access to clean, safe water for local communities. This has involved digging boreholes like this one and rehabilitating water points, so that people no longer have to travel long distances to collect water.

The borehole pictured is next to a conservation farming site. The main aim of the borehole is to help the women to be able to water their maize plot and vegetable…

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